Today, as part of Qatar’s contribution to Paris 2024, Qatar Museums and 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum opened Olympism: More Than a Dream Exhibition, recording 40 years of Qatar’s participation in the Olympics since 1984. This exhibition will be on view from 31 July to 25 August at Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris Hotel in Paris, France.
The opening of the exhibition was attended by His Excellency Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al-Thani, the Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the French Republic, His Excellency Mr. Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain, President of the Qatar Football Association, Dr. Thani bin Abdulrahman Al Kuwari, Vice President of Qatar Olympic Committee and Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Vice President for West Asia, Mr. Abdulla Yousuf Al Mulla, 321 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum Director, Yasmin Meichtry, Associate Director at Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage - Olympic Museum - IOC, as well as Alexandra de Navacelle de Coubertin, President, Pierre de Coubertin Family Association and other prominent guests.
In the elegant surroundings of the Raffles art gallery, the exhibition is divided into 3 parts:
● The first part is a tribute to Pierre de Coubertin, Founder of the Modern Olympics, and celebrates Qatar’s gift of the first translation of Coubertin’s Selected Writings into Arabic for the first time. The exhibition features iconic Olympic objects from the Museum’s collection, from Muhammad Ali’s left boxing glove from Rome 1960, hand-inscribed by the most charismatic of athletes, detailing his victories, to a rare Innsbruck 1964 Olympic torch used on the first occasion that the Olympic flame for a Winter Games was lit in Olympia, Greece birthplace of the Ancient Olympic Games.
● The second part highlights key milestones in Qatar’s progress as an Olympic nation, from its first participation at Los Angeles 1984 to Tokyo 2020. Foregrounding Qatar’s continuous involvement in each subsequent Summer Olympic Games and Paralympics—featuring milestone moments, memorabilia and medals from Qatar’s first medal in 1992 to one of the two Tokyo 2020 Golds—the exhibition shines a light on how the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship have been articulated in Qatar and across the MENA region.
On display is the bronze won by Qatar athlete Mohammed Suleiman in the 1500m at Barcelona, the first medal in the history of the Olympic Games to be won by a Gulf Country. The gold medal won by the ‘Qatari Falcon’ Mutaz Barshim at Tokyo 2020 is one of the highlights of the exhibition. In the high jump final, Qatar’s Barshim and Italy’s Tamberi both cleared a height of 2.37m but did not progress. In one of the most heart-warming moments in Olympic history, Barshim then made history by suggesting that the pair share the gold. This rare instance of athletes of different nations agreeing to share the same medal is a shining example of Olympic values of Excellence, Respect and Friendship.
● The third and final part explores Qatar’s emergence as a global sporting leader and host, and its aspirations to host the Olympic Games in the future. Building on its long and successful track record as international sport host, Qatar now wishes to progress its Olympic dream.
The exhibition is curated by Susan Hayward FMA, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic & Sports Museum and led by Museum’s Director, Abdulla Al Mulla, and the 3-2-1 team.
The opening of the exhibition was attended by His Excellency Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al-Thani, the Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the French Republic, His Excellency Mr. Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain, President of the Qatar Football Association, Yasmin Meichtry, Associate Director at Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage - Olympic Museum - IOC as well as Alexandra de Navacelle de Coubertin, President, Pierre de Coubertin Family Association and other prominent guests.
Just after the opening of the exhibition, as a part of Team Qatar Reception by Qatar Olympic Committee held in Paris during the Games, Qatar Museums will for the first time present Pierre De Coubertin: Textes Choisis, Volume 1, the first translation from French into Arabic of selected writings by Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic Games. The book will become available to public through In-Q’s website and Qatar Museums’ gift shops. The publication, which draws on his voluminous archive of writings (totaling some 500,000 words) collects some of Coubertin’s most important essays on the power of sport to bring people together. With the Summer Olympic Games opening in Paris, it serves as an introduction to Arabic-reading audiences of the values that undergird the modern Olympic movement.
